UNITED NATIONS, June 24 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General
Kofi Annan on Monday welcomed U.S. President George W. Bush's
reaffirmation of his vision of a Palestinian state side by side
with a secure Israel but said the question of Palestinian
leadership was up to the Palestinian people.
"The issue of who should lead the Palestinian people is one
that only the Palestinian people themselves can decide," U.N.
chief spokesman Fred Eckhard said.
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat "remains their leader
and it will be up to them to decide through the fresh elections
already announced who will lead them in the future," Eckhard
said.
Bush, in a message read to reporters in the White House
Rose Garden, backed creating a provisional Palestinian state
and a final settlement of the Middle East conflict in three
years, but only if the Palestinians met several conditions
including new leadership.
While not naming Arafat, Bush said peace required "a new
and different Palestinian leadership, so that a Palestinian
state can be born. I call on the Palestinian people to elect
new leaders not compromised by terror."
Annan, however, noted the Palestinian people had freely
elected Arafat as their leader in 1996 elections "that were
widely welcomed by the international community," according to
Eckhard.
The U.N. leader now looked forward to fresh talks with the
parties, key regional leaders and the so-called Quartet of
international Middle East mediators to determine the next steps
toward achieving Bush's vision of "a viable and credible state
of Palestine ... and security for Israel," Eckhard said.
The Quartet, which includes Russia and the European Union
as well as Washington and the United Nations, has been active
in coordinating an international response to the crisis.
"With the situation on the ground eroding by the day, he
reiterates the urgent need for the international community to
work swiftly with the parties to restart a political process
that will lead to the realization of such an outcome," Eckhard
said.
Annan also urged Israelis and Palestinians "to muster the
courage and political will to make it possible within three
years to replace the Israeli occupation of 1967 by a negotiated
settlement with two states living side by side in peace and
security," Eckhard said.
With the Israeli army reoccupying six West Bank cities and
tanks again surrounding Arafat's Ramallah headquarters in
reaction to last week's back-to-back Palestinian suicide
bombings, Eckhard said Annan continued to believe there was no
military solution to the conflict.
In a statement issued earlier in the day, Eckhard had said
Annan was "very disturbed" that Israel had moved its army back
into West Bank cities, saying such actions "significantly
increase tensions in a volatile situation."
((United Nations bureau, +1 212 355-6053, fax 1 212 355-0143,
irwin.arieff@reuters.com))
25 JUN 2002 00:44:59 Annan to Bush: Up to Palestinians to pick leaders
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